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Queensway Tunnel

Light pylon near Birkenhead tunnel portal

More than three kilometres long, a single-bore circular tunnel wide enough to carry four lanes of traffic side-by-side, taken underneath one of the UK's major river mouths. It would be a celebrated engineering feat if it were completed today. But the Queensway Tunnel — or the Birkenhead Tunnel, if you're a local — was excavated by hand to connect Liverpool to the Wirral, and opened in 1934.

At the time it was the biggest tunnel the world had ever seen — wider than any other, and substantially longer than most other subaqueous tunnels. It is incredible that it is not more widely recognised as one of the UK's pieces of landmark engineering, but then it sits entirely underground and as a result doesn't get much attention. It's a miracle that it exists at all, given that the government was very reluctant to provide any funding and Liverpool was the only local authority interested in building it.

Since it opened, Queensway has seen its above-ground parts altered almost beyond recognition, and below ground parts have fallen out of use and become derelict.

This article explores the Queensway from every angle — from the early stages of planning to a tour of the tunnel as it stands today.

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